Senate committee approves bill to grant voting rights to felons

January 27, 2013|By Ashley Kelly and Peter Dujardin

We reported last week that a Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee killed off legislation to begin the process of amending the state constitution to grant voting rights back to some convicted felons.

Last week, however, a comparable Senate committee came in with an altogether different view.

On Tuesday, the Senate's Privileges and Elections Committee voted 10-5 to approve the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth.

If passed, the bill would be the first step in submitting a constitutional amendment to voters to allow for the automatic granting of the right to vote for non-violent convicted felons who have served their debt to society.

Under current law, Virginia strips the right to vote from every convicted felon for life, with the state ranking fourth in the nation for the proportion of citizens who have had their voting rights revoked. Also under the rules, a felon's right to vote can be restored only with an application through the governor's office.

But two law and order conservatives, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, want to change that, saying regaining the right to vote can help convicted felons who have served their time to become full and productive members of society.

Since the House has already killed off its version of the bill, a reversal of course in the House would of course be necessary for the bill to pass. The House could yet consider the Senate measure. Or, the House Privileges and Elections Committee — which outranks the Constitutional Amendment subcommittee that killed off the bill — could vote to pass it.

According to a story in the Associated Press last week, Cuccinelli has become an advocate for the reform, in part because more and more low-level misdemeanors have become felonies.

"Ten years ago I would not have been here supporting this effort," said Cuccinelli, a former state senator, the AP reported. "If you look historically at what it means qualitatively to be a felon in Virginia, it's not the same as it was 100 years ago. This is a modest but system-wide and very fair change to make. It helps to ameliorate some of the overkill on the punishment side of our criminal justice system."

Proposed constitutional amendments must be approved by two legislative sessions before being presented to voters in a referendum. That means it would have to pass again in 2014 to go before voters, even if it clears both houses this year.

New hearing date

The preliminary hearing of 19-year-old Tyrek Allen was continued last week due to an absent witness.

Allen is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Darntrell Marque Belle of Newport News on July 21. Allen, who was listed as one of the most wanted criminals in the city, was arrested in September after a seven-month search by police.

Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Valerie Muth asked a judge for a continuance because an out-of-state witness couldn't be located in time for the hearing. The judge granted the motion and the new preliminary hearing date is set for March 6 in Newport News General District Court.

Allen is charged with first-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and firearms charges.

Peter Dujardin and Ashley Kelly cover courts and crime for the Daily Press. Dujardin can be reached at 757-247-4749, and Kelly can be reached at 757-247-4778.